How often do you raise your rates?

This morning, I was astonished to discover that someone I know has been charging the same consulting fees for TEN years! Ten! And, not only that, this consultant only charges $50 an hour!

Yikes! If this consultant had merely increased fees at the rate of inflation, they’d be charging $61 an hour now. I mean, $50 today was worth about $40 ten years ago.

Not only that, by keeping rates flat, this consultant hasn’t allowed for any increase in skills or experience. Do you know more than you did 10 years ago? Do you do your work better? Faster? I would hope so!

In fact, if this consultant had increased rates at 5% a year, signalling a strong belief in skills and experience development, they’d now be billing over $80 an hour.

Wow. When I look back at what I was charging 10 years ago and compare it to my current rate, there’s been a huge increase. In fact, in my first year of consulting, I raised my fees 43%. And, four years ago, I raised my fees 56%. And I’ve increased my fees every year — those are just big jumps. In fact, I now bill 386% more than I did 10 years ago.